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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Greetings from the mall.

May 2012: UPDATE+my own disclaimer, THIS PARKING IS NOT FOR PUBLIC USE and it appears to be for staff. Please read the comment section (latest feedback) from fellow bicycling citizens pertaining this particular space, so you are not misguided by my 3yr old post --thanks all! xxomeli

ORIGINAL ENTRYthe below texts hasremained intact, NOTE THAT this was originally published on April 2010
es the mall. San Francisco Centre between Market and Mission, 4th and
Market. Enjoy it while you can because I just never find myself there,
except this time I had to exchange an item and thought I might as well
make an adventure out of it, of course.

Sometime after the
re-opening in 2006 while walking with my mom downtown, she really wanted
to sit under the dome of the old emporium, drink our coffee and listen
to the pianist [see recent Caliber photo here]
which you should maybe do at least once if you haven't. It is a very
beautiful dome. Being the curious being that I am, I asked a staff if
they had bike lockers. Whenever possible I always ask, I need to know
these things, you know. They are second nature. The nice young man told
me to ask at the concierge for a code to the designated space where
there are plenty of racks, he said. I was excited and made a mental
note, next time I come to the mall *I will remember to do that.*

Fast
forward a few years, I found myself having an hour or so to spare.
Having the chance to return this item, I thought I would give that
unknown locker space a try. I have always found an alternative to
parking my bike downtown if I'm not able to see it every 2 minutes.
Those damn thieves are pro, we know so.

And so, here is the following report from my mall adventure, enjoy it.
•
First stop the concierge. "Hi, I'm here to find out about the bike
parking" He was nice, gave me directions to the bike locker and the door
code. That was all.

• What is a mall visit if you don't try on clothes and play with mirrors :D
This
is as close as I will get any pair of jeans, and that my bike and I on
the second floor (level?) of the mall. Frenchie field trip.

Meet Martin.

•
This is where you take a left. The lockers are located on the same
floor as the food court, so if you are coming into the centre from Bart,
it's past the elevators near the Peet's and that one market.

This way.

•This is the space. I smiled like a leprechaun would if gold was found at the end of a rainbow. Sweet.

Frenchie chills outParked bikesShiny

When
will the next time I will find myself at the mall? I'm not quite sure.
The length of my stay this time was less than 45 minutes, but thought I
might as well share my very positive bicycle parking experience with you
all so if you need to be around the area, you know there are options
even in the teen-crowded mall. That's right.

Frenchie and I
continued about our business and the rest of the evening couldn't have
been better for riding. We went past a few more bikes on our way out,
and off we went.

Bike & vendor.Two bikes on Market.

---til next time!---

The San Francisco Centre offers information on their site about public transportation
but there is no mention of assigned bicycle parking. I have come across
this information based upon pure personal curiosity and asking within
the premises. Unfiltered, this is a personal and non-commercial post.
Thanks for reading!

20 comments:

We have a little mall in this podunk town and my dad and I used to go there to the coffee court located under the dome at the main entrance. We'd drink coffee, tell each other lies (stories) and watch the girls pass.Now my dad is gone, Woolworth is gone, the coffee bar is gone and the little old Chinese lady that made the best spring rolls is gone but I still have the memory. Thanks for bringing it back.Maybe I'll check the mall out this week, it's been years.By the way, thanks for not wearing jeans.

cameron/ i even made small chat with people around the mall :D who knew!

oldfool/ oh that is great, thanks so much for sharing - there are certain thinkgs that we must not forget to revisit, even if they are small, or even if they come from a young person like me, life is too short :D

tejano/ yes! and for some reason there are places i have found where you least expect them. whatever keeps thos thieves away, we'll take it

san/ YAY - im so bummed we didnt get to meet, too much music that past week was insane! cant wait to see your pretty posts

It's really good to know this! It's hard to find street (bike) parking around here, and with the SFBC moving onto this block it might get even harder. I used to have a bit of a shopping problem and would find myself at the Westfield way too often. I'm doing better now...

how rockin' is that parking?! one thought...if you were a thief couldn't you get the code? regardless ~ love. it's kind of like all the little hidden gem parks on building rooftops downtown. now, there's an adventure for you and Frenchie...

The mall in Flag is pretty so-so and I've never noticed exterior bike parking. Quite sure they don't offer interior secure bike parking. I've been meaning to make the trip by bike, if nothing else to explore parts of the urban trail I've never ridden - and I admit to being somewhat obsessed with the gourmet section of World Market. You have inspired me to make the trip.

so this is for jason + the latest anonymous comment (come on, dont be shy, introduce yourself).

1st of all, I am not a pretty girl in a skirt, I am a woman who doesnt quite wear pants. I know that is your way perhaps of giving me a compliment, but that is quite unnecessary and sounds rather sexist.

please dont turn this into a gender/looks thing. before i dose you with a feminist response to your 'pretty girl in a skirt' , missing the whole point to this post which is the concern about the access to public bicycle parking around this area, in this case inside the mall. and that to this day, other than the racks @mint plaza near the BBcoffee, not sure there is any safe spot other than 'paid' parking lots(?), I will say this:

this post was from 2 years ago. i simply asked just as the extremely curious person i am, and got through. Either things or their process/access for this has changed over the last time i was there, or I got a concierge/staff that did not know what up.

As I stated in my post above (yea, 2 years ago) "• First stop the concierge. "Hi, I'm here to find out about the bike parking" He was nice, gave me directions to the bike locker and the door code. That was all."

so, i have not been to that mall myself since and well, thanks for your comments and sharing your experience here, to you both. I do appreciate the recent info you have provided and to let others that you found out that this little bike cave parking is not public nor easy to get into

Hi Meli. I've enjoyed your charming blog. :) I discovered it by Googling "Westfield San Francisco bike parking". Your blog was the first on the list. I was all excited about the parking you discovered but decided to keep reading all the comments because they (like your blog) were fun. I was of course disappointed about the updates/rules. It would be great if you could write some sort of update at the very top of this post somehow. I read to the bottom and some others posted updates, but out of compassion for your fellow bikers, please consider putting some sort of notice at the top. If you can't do that, then please consider deleting this entire blog post. I think the majority of people reading this entry are good people who ride bikes, are going to Westfield and Googled it. I fear many people have been and many more will be very frustrated and saddened if they read your blog entry but skip the comments. Thx. Respectfully, Jay Cash. :)

hi jj cash; thanks so much for the nice comment, and taking the time to bring this up - I have just recently returned to blogging, and had not thought of an update for this specific entry, I sincerely appreciate the suggestion it is now displayed at the top.stay in touch +safe ridingmeli